Dropped by Toys R Us today and was pleasantly surprised that they have some new toys. These are the action figures from the upcoming Avengers movie. And to be honest, I think they're trying to go all out on this as one whole shelf was given to them

Even the toys for The Dark Knight Rises were shelved....

The 7" figures were quite nice. But alas, Hawkeye and Black Widow were not in the line-up

A remodeled Repulsor

Oho... Iron Man's Armour now has more armour!But I am not surprise because Captain also has the same thing.

Now, this is something I am interested in.However, my wallet was not.

Improved face helmet with sound and light up eye slits.

OK, so they have the customary Arc Ractors.Why Am I not excited? See below

Yep, even Captain America has one.... sheesh

And its method of fixing to your chest is the same.In other words, its the same Iron Man Arc Ractor but with new fascia

Erm... what the heck is this?

Masks galore and none for Hawkeye...

All in all, every figure you want, its there. But to make sure Black Widow and Hawkeye do not feel left out., they were shrunk to become the 3.75" action figures. I mean, the Big guys like Iron Man, Thor and Captain America all have their own movies and so, the toys reflected that. While the other tow were just... bystanders. Heh.

Still, would I buy any of them? Apart from the Arc Reactor, sadly, no. This was because money all of a sudden has become very tight and so, as much as I wanted the Quinjets, I'll have to pass. Also, the prices have risen, which is really the nail/cement/superglue in the coffin for me on this.

It was a normal day, with nothing exciting since by this time, everyone has or rather, used to the new schedule which revolves around my Mother. But something happened today, which made me quite worried...

After fetching Kristine to school, I came back and made sure that Kaelynn finishes her homework which she was too tired to do on the night before.

And this is her homework, which I wanted her to give her best effort because...

If we do not pay attention, her characters can turn into aliens

By the time I picked Kaelynn up, her eyes were red from crying. The Teacher said she fell while trying out for the Sports.

From Kaelynn's description, she was the first to complete the circuit while all her otehr classmates were lagging behind. But when the Teacher asked her to go for the second round, she tripped. The left palm was the most serious injury followed by both legs. I have ever seen because during my time, it was only on the knees. And oh, the Blue iodines hurt like the dickens.

Still, she was not fazed by all this and as a reward, I got her some ice-cream. Kristine also had hers because...

she made very nice drawings with the crayons

Despite her injuries, she put Kristine's matter is the higher priority.

Time for lunch, which is a simple pasta dish but with some crab sticks and sausages which the girls loved.

And they also love to mix cheese into the pasta too.As for me, since there was a lot of leftovers...

Time is making me panic as my self schedule is now way over. Its now end of March and there is no completed product to show. Then, at the same time, the SOIC version of the chips arrived. This was because I realised the SOPP chips, although it solved my size problem, it's legs were too close to be soldered properly without the risk of shorting.

Also, I am very sure my Wife won't let me use the microwave or the toaster for wave soldering; a technique used to solder SMD components. But then again, there are no solder paste being sold here.

And so, this came after 3 days. Direct from manufacturer. How about that?

This is the SOIC chip, which I should have chosen from the very beginning. The legs are so wide, I can easily solder them with my new soldering iron sharp bit

What the.... hey. this is seriously wrong!This is the second adapter which I order and it won't fit!

And when I checked it against the prototype board, it won't fit either.There is no way the IC's package is wrong!

And so, for a few days, I was very worried as the deadline is approaching. Intially, when Richard asked me if I can do this within two weeks, I was very confident. But now, with the battery issue, I am lost.

Luckily, my salvation came in the form of a KopyKat torch./whistle. As luck would have it, the battery holder's diameter is perfect for the cigar tube.

Finally, after modifying the battery holder, it works!

Unfortunately, since his staff kept it on all the time, the batteries lasts only every four hours....

Remember a some posts ago I was cutting some SRBP circuit board? They were for this project. This is a quick prop for The Outpost. They needed a Men In Black Neuralyzer for the movie promotion. The problem is, there is no way anyone can get a Neuralyzer within such a short time. And even if there is one, its too expensive. Moreover, the toys for the new movie is not even in yet.

So, the solution must be from another dimension...

What Richard wanted was something which looked like a Neuralyzer and not necessary a real one. Okay, this eases the pressure a bit but it must be done within three weeks...

So, I have two challenges ahead. One is the electronics which have done within the time period. The other, is to make everything work in the casing given by Richard, which, incidently was a metal cigar tube.

The board is for the electronics which I have programed the chip

Everything is ready, except for one minor thing. Batteries!!!

So, with everything done, there is one small problem which I overlooked. The batteries to make it work. There is no way I can use some AAA batteries in there. And so, I have to look for some button cell batteries which is a problem because for these batteries, there are no standard battery holders available... Oh-oh.

Something is very wrong. I am very sure I have designed the circuit board correctly and also, a laser printer verified the print out, which was perfect. But when I got the boards back, the tracks are very close and also, most of the tracks seems to be sticking together...

After half an hour of scribing also also mangling the track, I gave up.

When it comes to making prototype circuits, the fastest way would be to use the stripboards. They are called as such because of the copper strips. One good thing about these stripboards are that not only are they cheap, they are made of SRBP (or FR2) materials which is easy to cut. However, their advantage can also be their greatest weakness.

This is because SRBP (Synthetic Resin Bonded paper) is brittle and easy to shatter when subjected to force or improper cutting tool.

I usually use a hacksaw to cut the stripboards but tonight, I am going to use an acrylic scriber instead

The problem with the scriber is that you need to score the lines repeatedly until you're more than halfway through. Then you can use both your hands to bend the board and it will snap off cleanly. However, this theory only works with acrylics. You can see the failed result here.

Looking at the uneven break, you can see how deep I have scored the board, which is only half the height of the board. This is OK but because I am using a scriber, the depth of the score is very shallow on the both ends of the board. So, when I snapped it in half, the uneveness at the edges caused the failure.

I am going to try again, this time making sure that the depth of the score is level, even at the edge.

But, I am also going to show you another failure. When you snap the board, you must snap it inwards with the copper side in the inside. Here, I 'folded' with the copper side outside the fold. Another fail.

And one more thing, when you scribe, you must use the lines between the copper tracks and not the holes unless you're using a saw. This, in the long run, blunts the scriber blade.

Sigh. I think I will go back to using hacksaws and score the wooden table's surface at the same time. Then again, its not an actual table but a nice wooden board suspended on top of a wooden bed's plank which is supported by a pair of wooden saw horse.

With the module complete and fully tested, now is the time to get it into Vee-Chai. Its a very simple operation with minimal tools such as a blade, a pair of pliers and a screwdriver. Oh, and a wrench. Some towels too. Don't forget the cool drink and a pair of sunglasses.

Or maybe, just pay RM10.00 to the mechanic at any Car Accessory shop to help you do this....

This is how the Third Brake Light looks like with the bulb inside.

And this is the original casing for the Third Brake Light. There are no screws and it just took me a few minutes to figure this out. I forgot most car manufacturers now uses plastic 'thumbtacks'

Slowly, locate these 'thumbtacks' at the sides of the casing and using a blade, slowly ease them out.

Using the pliers, pull the 'thumbtacks' out but don't throw them away. Not only does it cost a few Ringgit a pair, its not easy to find them.

See the Yellow arrow above? I forgot why I need to put the yellow arrow but it must be important. So, help me by staring at it for a few minutes.

You need to remove the two nuts which bolts the original brake holder to the car's rear hatch. The glass is blocking you from removing the red lens. You need to do this only once because you need to put in the whole LED module inside.

Once the whole unit is out, you can tell your friend/Wife/GF/cat/dog/brick. etc to stop pressing on the brake pedal as the bulb is very hot. And it is also blinding you (this is also the time to wear your sunglasses).

This is how the original Third Brake Light casing looks like. You can now use a piece of cloth to pull the hot bulb out. Well, just maybe, you might want to put the bulb in a safe place for future use.

See the importance of the white connector? It is the same shape as that of the original bulb.

Slowly push the connector into the bulb holder and you must hold on to the grey part (top part of the picture) for strength. If everything is done correctly, you will hear a click which means the plug is now locked in position. If you hear a crack this means the silver reflector is broken bcause you held them by the sides.

Note that there are a pair of white double-sided tapes on the LED module which you can use to secure it to the Third Brake Light's original casing

One thing I would like to add is that the manufacturer also gave me a clear transparent Lens to replace the original red cover but on hindsight, I decided to stick with the original red lens.

Although this might look 'in style' with the other light clusters, I do not want to show-off that there are LEDs inside until I start using them.

So, now all you need to do is to bolt the casing back on, slot in the cover and push in the 'thumbtacks' and you're done.

Oh, and for the cool drink, its for the Wife/GF/Cat/Dog, etc. but not the brick.Thanks to my over enthusiastic girls for helping on this little project.Hope this helps you too.